Muddy Buddy world snapshots
by kdip4014
Summary: Liam's first MLB game. Stay tuned for the next installment!
1. Chapter 1

Happy New Year all! To celebrate the end of a decade, we have these wonderful snapshots, which you shall receive about one a day! It's all the moments you might have wanted to see but couldn't be fit into the stories. Visits to Addison, friends meeting family, babys' firsts, and their meeting with Michael, it's all here! The timing is approximate, we planned this out after writing Heart Trouble, so we fit things in as best we could.

* 1 *

Visiting Addison (April 2011)

"So, what time is Addison expecting us?" Arizona poses her question while fixing a snack. The pair is packed and ready to leave the following morning whenever they wake up.

"I told her we'd call before taking off, but I figure we take off around noon-ish, we'd land around three. The rental car is supposed to be waiting on the tarmac for us, so barring traffic, we'll get there around dinner time."

"Awesome. What did you tell Derek when you asked for time off?" Taking her sandwich, she joins Callie on the sofa, offering half of it to the brunette while they snuggle in for a movie.

"The truth – I told him we were going down to explore our options for kids and get started on whatever hormones and such that we'd need to."

"And you told him-,"

"I told him not to tell anyone, even Meredith; that we wanted to make the announcement when the procedure actually takes and we pass the danger zone. Now, shush, the movie is starting."

Curling into the younger woman's side, Arizona groans internally when the opening music for the latest thrasher movie filters through the speakers. While she hates the movies her girlfriend picks, she secretly loves them as well, because her moments of burrowing into the brunette's side in fear often turn into heavy make-out sessions, interrupted often by Christina Yang coming home early or drunk.

* * *

Arizona stands back a ways to allow the two friends to embrace when they arrive at Addison's place. The women hadn't even gotten the opportunity to knock when the door was flung open and the neonatal surgeon threw her arms around the ortho surgeon. Finally, the two women break apart and Callie turns to Arizona.

"You remember Arizona."

"I do," Addison pulls the smaller woman into a warm embrace, releasing her significantly earlier than she did Callie. "So, come on in, I just ask that you be quiet… I'm babysitting today and baby is sleeping."

The two women grab their bags from the car and follow Addison into her house. At her direction, they leave the bags at the bottom of the stairs before getting a quick tour of the first floor. Accepting a glass of tea, the women make their way to the back porch, Addison grabbing the baby monitor on the way.

"Who are you baby-sitting for, Pete?" Callie is aware of the break-up that Pete and Addison had, yet she also knows that the two stayed friends, and Addison is always willing to take care of young Lucas if Pete or Violet have to work late or need some alone time.

"No, Maya. She and Dink have got finals next week, so everyone at the practice is taking Olivia for one afternoon until afterwards so that they can study."

"God, I cannot believe that Maya kept the baby. How's she doing by the way? Is her back doing better?"

"Yeah, she's getting there. She still needs some physical therapy and her legs still get a little weak at the end of the day. But all things considered…" Addison trails off.

"She's lucky to have the use of her legs at all." Callie finishes, having reviewed the file last spring. When Addison had heard about her cartilage research, she'd sent the file – with Maya and Naomi's permission – to get a trusted ortho opinion and to get Callie onboard in case repair surgery was needed. So far Maya seemed to be doing well on her own.

The trio falls silent for a moment before Arizona takes Callie's hand. The two hold a silent conversation, which Addison is quick to notice and she remains silent, waiting for the couple to bring up whatever they were discussing between themselves. She doesn't have to wait long.

"Alright, Addison, you know I love you, so coming to see you is no hardship, but we actually need to talk to you about something – something that is the main reason why we came down here this week." Arizona lets Callie take the lead on the conversation, knowing the friendship and past between the women on this particular topic.

"Okay, what's up?" Addison sits up straight, the tone to Callie's voice making her worry slightly.

"We need your medical opinion on something."

"Is everything alright? Are one of you sick?" Before Addison can begin to worry too much, Callie breaks in with a reassuring smile.

"Oh, no, we're fine! Nothing is wrong with either of us." Addison visibly relaxes, taking a deep breath.

"Geez, Torres, don't scare me like that." Callie is quick to apologize, and the two women share a quick smile before Addison falls serious once again. "So what can I do for you then?"

"Arizona and I want to start a family." Addison's eyes go wide, but before she can comment, or squeal in surprised happiness, Callie holds up a hand, halting any comment from the redhead. "The plan is for me to carry Arizona's child-,"

"And vice versa?" Arizona is the one to stop Addison's train of thought this time.

"I'm not totally certain on carrying a child. What little thought I gave to motherhood, I'd always considered adoption, so for the moment, we're just going to make plans for Calliope to have my child."

"Alright then. I'm fairly certain that I have an opening tomorrow right after lunch, but if you bring something in, I might be persuaded to work through lunch, just for you. We've got to perform a quick physical and take some blood to test your hormone levels; if all that checks out, I'll get you in with Naomi the next day to get you started on the fertility drugs. Good?"

"Good." The younger women respond simultaneously, which causes the older surgeon to chuckle happily, getting to her feet and circling the table to give her best friend a giddy hug.

"I'm so happy for you!"

"Thank you." Addison moves onto Arizona, bending down to hug the woman, holding onto her nearly as long as she did Callie. Further conversation is halted at the sound of cries coming from the monitor and Addison excuses herself to tend to the baby.

"Well, that went better than I thought it would." Callie comments once the door is shut behind Addison.

"You thought that she would have a problem with this?"

"No, I thought I'd lose hearing in one or both ears at her exclamation of joy."


	2. Chapter 2

Happy New Year all! To celebrate the end of a decade, we have these wonderful snapshots, which you shall receive about one a day! It's all the moments you might have wanted to see but couldn't be fit into the stories. Visits to Addison, friends meeting family, babys' firsts, and their meeting with Michael, it's all here! The timing is approximate, we planned this out after writing Heart Trouble, so we fit things in as best we could.

* 2 *

Mark meets the Robbins (May2011)

Dr. Mark Sloan walked into Dr. Arizona Robbins's office, a little used but very nicely decorated office with stuffed animals, toys and art work from kids that Arizona had helped on the walls.

"You wanted to see me?" Mark asked, walking in and sitting down. "Wow this is a nice office. Who is your decorator?" He asked, wanting to redo his office for some time.

"Me." Arizona looked up, handing Mark a chart. "My father has snored for 25 years and it has gotten worse over time. My mom has finally had enough. Can you help?"

Mark looked over the scans, thinking for a few moments. "Yeah I can." He looked up at the young doctor. "It will take about an hour but after your mother won't have to worry about being kept up by your dad anymore. At least not by his snoring."

Arizona made a face but shook it off. "They are coming in next week to see Callie and me, can you do it then?"

"No problem. Have him stop by on Thursday and I will give him an exam and then I will figure out a day to do it." Mark smiled before standing. "Just your parents coming in or is Little Robbins joining them?"

"Little Robbins?" Arizona laughed a bit. "Call her that, I dare you." She leaned back in her chair, her back cracking in the most delightful away. "No just my parents this time. They are coming into town for my dad's birthday. I'm taking him to a Seahawks football game."

Mark nodded, walking toward the door before turning and looking at Arizona. "Oh Robbins you might want to get something to cover that hickey on your neck." He smirked, watching Arizona's eyes going a little wide before he walked away.

* * *

Daniel and Kerry Robbins walked into Seattle Grace - Mercy West hospital after driving from the airport. Daniel was dressed in jeans and a white polo, Kerry is a flowing purple dress.

"Excuse me, can you tell me how to get to Dr. Arizona Robbins office?" Daniel asked a young doctor that looked to be about 25.

"Arizona is in the OR right now." Lexie said, looking at the two older adults. "Are you her parents? She said you were coming in today. I'm Lexie, Lexie Grey." She smiled, holding out her hand to both of them.

"It's very nice to meet you, Lexie." Kerry smiled at the younger woman. "Do you think she'll be long? We were hoping to have lunch with her."

"She should be out in about an hour. Callie is in the attendings' lounge if you want me to take you up there." Lexie offered.

"That would be very nice, thank you." Daniel smiled, taking in the hospital as they walked.

Callie and Mark were sitting together, talking about a case when Lexie, Daniel and Kerry walked in. "Hello, Callie." Kerry smiled, hugging Callie when she stood.

"Hello, Kerry, Daniel." Callie smiled brightly, hugging Arizona's parents. "How was your flight?"

"Really nice." Kerry responded, pulling back. "Thank you for letting us use your private plane."

"You have your own plane?" Lexie asked, a little shocked. She moved over beside Mark, blushing a little like when they got together the first time. They had just gotten back together, knowing that somehow they were better together than apart.

"Yeah." Callie blushed a little. "Daniel, Kerry this is Mark Sloan. Mark these are Arizona's parents."

"It's very nice to meet you." He shook Daniel's hand and gave Kerry a hug.

"So you are the doctor that is going to make my snoring go away, eh?" Daniel sized up Mark.

"Yes, sir." Mark smiled, his arm going around Lexie's waist. "It will take about an hour. I am free now if you want me to do the exam, get it over with."

"That would work." Daniel kissed Kerry's cheek. "I'll be back soon, sweetheart." He said, leaving with Mark.

"I have to get back to work." Lexie said, leaving behind them.

Kerry and Callie both sat down, wanting to catch up. "He's cuter than you said, Callie." Kerry said about Mark.

"Don't say that to Arizona. Mark and I were together for a little bit and she can sometimes still get jealous about him." Callie blushed.

"She get's that from her father. I could tell you stories that would make you laugh for days." Kerry chuckled softly.

"Oh, do tell." Callie settled in for story time.


	3. Chapter 3

Happy New Year all! To celebrate the end of a decade, we have these wonderful snapshots, which you shall receive about one a day! It's all the moments you might have wanted to see but couldn't be fit into the stories. Visits to Addison, friends meeting family, babys' firsts, and their meeting with Michael, it's all here! The timing is approximate, we planned this out after writing Heart Trouble, so we fit things in as best we could.

* 3 *

They buy a house (June 2011)

On just over 1.73 acres of land sat a 176 year old Victorian style house with a wraparound porch, 5 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, a study, a drawing room, a large kitchen with a walk-in pantry, a formal and informal dining room, a sitting room, a solarium and both finished basement and attic. The last owner had updated everything, put in the best and most modern bathrooms, bedrooms, turning the drawing room into a full entertainment center and put a hot tub in the back.

"I have a really good feeling about this house." Margret, Callie and Arizona's real-estate agent, told them as they walked up the driveway to the house. "It's less than 3 miles from the hospital and in one of the best school districts in the area."

Callie and Arizona looked at the house and then at each other. "That's a plus." Arizona said looking over at Callie.

They walked inside and looked around, seeing that most of the new stuff was hidden behind wood so it blended in perfectly. "This is a beautiful house." Callie said, running her hands over the built in bookshelves in the study.

"And a steal at 1.2 million." Margret said cheerfully.

Arizona snorted a little. "You won't get that in this economy. Maybe 1 million." She looked over at Callie, telling she was falling in love with the house. She was too.

"We'll take it at 1 million." Callie turned, looking at Margret. "We will be paying in full."

Both Arizona and Callie laughed as Margret's jaw dropped just a little. "Pay in full?"

"Yup." Callie took Arizona's hand. "We're home, Calliope." She whispered, hugging Callie.

"Yeah, baby we are." Callie whispered, hugging Arizona for all she was worth.


	4. Chapter 4

Happy New Year all! To celebrate the end of a decade, we have these wonderful snapshots, which you shall receive about one a day! It's all the moments you might have wanted to see but couldn't be fit into the stories. Visits to Addison, friends meeting family, babys' firsts, and their meeting with Michael, it's all here! The timing is approximate, we planned this out after writing Heart Trouble, so we fit things in as best we could.

* 4 *

Baseball game (9/15/11)

Callie, Arizona, Daniel, Kerry, Mac, Matty, Erin, Jamie, Aria and Jesse sat in row F in Field Box 39 at Fenway Park. As of today they were tied at the top of the AL East and the winner of this game would most likely win the division.

"This is a lot smaller than I thought it would be." Callie said from her seat between Arizona and Aria.

"That's what I said my first time." Erin laughed, trying to say it so her father wouldn't hear.

"Erin." Daniel said, looking at his daughter. "Behave or I will make you sit in the bleachers."

"Yes, Daddy." Erin muttered, watching the Red Sox warm up on the field.

"$7 for a beer, if it wasn't this good I wouldn't get it." Matty said, his arm around Mac.

"You'd buy me whatever I told you to, sailor." Mac laughed at her boyfriend.

"I have $50 that Pap get's rocked if he comes in." Jamie said to Kerry.

"You are on." She laughed, taking a drink of her beer. "I'll put $20 on 5 or more home runs today."

"I'll get in on that." Jesse said from the end. "Both of them."

"All bets have to be in before the game starts." Arizona said, taking out some paper. She always was the one that kept tabs on the bets. "And I'll put $20 on A - Rod going 2 for."

Callie turned her head and kissed Arizona's cheek. "Guess what?" She whispered, seeing Arizona's wedding band shine in the late afternoon light.

"What?" Arizona turned, looking at Callie.

"I love you." Callie said softly.

"Love you, too." Arizona kissed her softly. "With all my heart."


	5. Chapter 5

Happy New Year all! To celebrate the end of a decade, we have these wonderful snapshots, which you shall receive about one a day! It's all the moments you might have wanted to see but couldn't be fit into the stories. Visits to Addison, friends meeting family, babys' firsts, and their meeting with Michael, it's all here! The timing is approximate, we planned this out after writing Heart Trouble, so we fit things in as best we could.

* 5 *

Visiting Addison (September, 16 2011-IVF)

Exiting the plane, Callie heads to the waiting car while thinking back on the last trip she and Arizona made to LA. The three women had spent the afternoon playing with young Olivia and each almost had a hard time saying good-bye when Maya and Dink left for home after dinner. Addison went over to Sam's place for a drink, leaving the two women to relax.

Arizona is quick to spot the nerves evident in Callie's features and posture and takes her hand in reassurance until they have to part to enter the car. Somehow, Carlos had found out about this trip of theirs – though he thinks they're just in LA to visit a friend of Callie's – and he arranged for a car and driver for them.

The pair is silent as the car winds its way through the streets of LA on its way toward Addison's place. Neither wants to say anything because they both know how much power her father wields and neither would put it past their father that he would request anything the couple says in the car gets relayed back to him. Upon arrival at Addison's place, Callie tells their driver to stay outside while they quickly freshen up. Rather than take a few days before the procedure and a few days after, they flew down the day of their procedure and elected to take a few days after, so they have just enough time to drop off their bags before they have to leave for Oceanside Wellness. Once they're inside and out of earshot of their driver, Arizona turns to Callie,

"Was it just me, or did the driver seem a little upset that we were so silent?"

"It wasn't you, he did seem a little upset." Callie takes their bags up to their room, dropping them onto the bed before turning and taking Arizona's hands.

"Are you sure about this?" Callie had been asking this question almost every day for the past week, not wanting to hear a negative, but also not wanting to force the blonde's hand if she's not ready for parenthood.

"I was ready for this the minute after we packed Ruby away into the ambulance bound for Seattle Presbyterian. Are _you_ ready for this?" Arizona watches while Callie's features go from worried, that Arizona would change her mind, to contented happiness, that they're about to make her dream come true.

"Yes, I'm ready for this. Way more than I ever was with George, even though we both know that I only wanted a baby with George because I thought it would make us happier and keep us together."

"Well, good thing that I have no plans to leave you, we're doing this because we're already happy. There's nothing we could do to make us happier than we already are."

"Now that we've already gotten married, at least." Callie thinks back to the previous week they'd spent in Spain, pledging their love in front of their family and God.

"Hmm, that was a good week." Arizona thinks back to the week also, leaning into the taller woman's embrace for a moment before pulling back sharply. "And if we don't get going now then we won't get this one day of happiness."

"You seem fairly confident that this will work the first time." Callie retrieves her purse before taking Arizona's hand and leading the way out down the hall and out of the house.

"I've got a feeling… this is gonna work." Callie pauses before they open the front door.

"Now silence." The pair resumes their silence as soon as the door opens, smirking internally when they see the driver quickly hang up the phone while turning to open the car door.

* * *

"Okay, ladies, ready?" Naomi enters the exam room, donning a gown and gloves before taking her position at the foot of the exam table.

"Has anyone ever said 'no' when you ask that?" Callie jokes from her position in stirrups, smiling at Addison's best friend with the joke.

"Not in all my years of practice, but it's one of those things you ask without really expecting an answer. And hearing 'yes' just reminds me of how satisfying this job is."

"Fair point." Callie concedes to the older woman with a nod. "Then, yes, I'm ready. Are you ready, Arizona?" She turns to the blonde with a wide grin, knowing what the answer will be.

"Ready." Arizona returns the grin, flashing her dimples and squeezing Callie's hand in excitement.

"Alright then, let's do this."

* * *

"So, how are you doing?" Addison enters the exam room, where Callie is still lying with her hips raised as Naomi directed her to.

"How much longer do I have to lie like this?" Clearly Callie is exasperated at the situation. Addison exchanges an indulgent grin with Arizona, clearly this is not the first time Callie has complained, even though the procedure was completed only half an hour ago.

"Not much longer. Remember, Torres, lying like that ensures that the procedure takes. And as much as I enjoy taking your money for these procedures, it'll get old after a while, so let's make certain that this will work the first time around."

"Agreed, Addy. Certainly after the third or fourth time I'll get tired of seeing your ugly mug every month."

"Aww, I love you, too, Torres." The friends share a smile while Arizona looks on humorously, used to the banter between the friends.

"So, have you two chosen names yet?" Addison sits down, intending to pass the time with the couple while they wait out the rest of their wait.

"Calliope is insistent that the name be Daniel if it's a boy-,"

"But Arizona vetoed it, so it'll be his middle name. Boy or girl, the first name will be Carter, middle name for a girl will be Lillian."

"Why are you so against Daniel?" Addison questions the blonde.

"It's my brother and father's name. I'm all for continuing with family names, but we've never named anyone after someone that's died, and I don't want to be the first to start."

"So where does Carter Lillian come from?" Addison drops the subject, remembering what Callie told her about the blonde's younger brother, knowing to drop the subject to keep the topic of conversation on the happy side this day.

"Carter was my grandfather's name – the grandfather that I was named for – and Lillian was my grandmother's name."

"Wait, I haven't heard this story. How do you get Arizona from Carter?" Addison sits back while Arizona runs through the story of how she came to be named for the historical battleship of World War II.

"And here I thought your parents threw a dart at a map to select your name." Arizona laughs heartily at that, given that it wasn't the first time she'd heard that.

"Well then, where are the places with the names Erin and Matthew?" She names her remaining siblings names in a joking tone.

"Well, I didn't know your sibling's names now did I?"

"Okay, how are we doing here?" Naomi returns, chart in hand.


	6. Chapter 6

Happy New Year all! To celebrate the end of a decade, we have these wonderful snapshots, which you shall receive about one a day! It's all the moments you might have wanted to see but couldn't be fit into the stories. Visits to Addison, friends meeting family, babys' firsts, and their meeting with Michael, it's all here! The timing is approximate, we planned this out after writing Heart Trouble, so we fit things in as best we could.

* 6 *

Finding out they're pregnant (October)

Callie paced in the bedroom, Arizona sitting on the bed. "How the hell did you get the only test that takes a full half hour?" She snapped.

"I didn't look to see how long it took." Arizona muttered, knowing that Callie was just worried that the IVF didn't work. "In a few moments the bell will go off and we can see if we are going to be mommies."

Callie stopped pacing, not wanting to wear a hole in the carpet. "What if it didn't work?" She asked, sitting down next to Arizona. "What if it never works?"

"It will work, Calliope." Arizona kissed her, her hands moving to Callie's side. "We are going to be mothers and damn good ones."

Callie nodded, her head dropping to Arizona's shoulder. She heard the bell go off after a little while. "Can you go check, I can't." She whispered softly.

Arizona untangled from Callie, kissing her forehead softly before going into their large bathroom. She looked at the test and a slow grin broke out over her face.

She walked into the bed and pushed Callie back, kissing her deeply. "We're pregnant." She tangled her hands in Callie's hand and kissed her deeply. She was glad they had a few hours before work, she needed to show Callie just how happy that news made her.


	7. Chapter 7

Happy New Year all! To celebrate the end of a decade, we have these wonderful snapshots, which you shall receive about one a day! It's all the moments you might have wanted to see but couldn't be fit into the stories. Visits to Addison, friends meeting family, babys' firsts, and their meeting with Michael, it's all here! The timing is approximate, we planned this out after writing Heart Trouble, so we fit things in as best we could.

* 7 *

They get a puppy (October, same day as #6)

"We should get a puppy!"

"And I want to quit my job and move to Antarctica." Arizona laughs at Callie's outburst, returning to her paperwork. "Be serious, Calliope."

"I am being serious." Realizing that her wife isn't joking, Arizona puts her paperwork aside and gives the brunette her full attention.

"Calliope, we just found out that we're having a baby. Please explain to me why you think it would be a good thing to get a puppy right now. A puppy that we would have to train, and walk and feed, all while working 80 hour weeks and dealing with your pregnancy and all that comes with it, like decorating the nursery and buying furniture and clothing and diapers and a million other things."

"Okay, do you really think that our mothers and friends would forget to get us anything that we might need for the child's first five years as a shower gift? And as for decorating it, my dad has already informed me that he has a decorator on retainer for when we decide what to do for the nursery."

"What about house breaking and training?"

"It's doable, plus Mark owes me, so we can work out our schedules so we'd be around. And we can build a pen and dog house out back for when we're at work." Callie flashes the blonde her best puppy dog eyes, the one's she's perfected over the time they've been together.

"Nice try, Calliope." Arizona picks up her papers and resumes working. Callie attempts to continue with the pleading face, but is forced to stop for a mad dash to the nearest bathroom thanks to morning sickness. Arizona tosses her papers to the side to follow her.

"Now, as far as pretty please pity moves go, triggering the morning sickness is definitely a winner." Grabbing a towel, Arizona quickly wets it and wipes Callie's face clean. Pulling her hair back and ensuring it's free of vomit, she quickly ties it up in a French braid to keep it out of the way.

"So does that mean that you'll agree to a puppy?" She leans back against the wall, sharing a smile with the blonde.

"I will agree to look. But it needs to be a rescue dog. And we will not limit our search to puppies, because older dogs are often looked over for cute and cuddly puppies."

"Deal. Seal with a kiss?"

"Brush your teeth first." Though she does grant her a kiss on the nose – as close to the mouth as she'll allow before Callie brushes her teeth.

* * *

"What about that one?" Callie motions to the umpteenth dog of the day.

"Do you remember the first week you spent with my family?"

"Yes."

"What part of that week would give you even the slightest indication that I would be the kind of person that would own a Chihuahua?"

"But it's cute and cuddly, just like you."

"No lap dogs, Calliope. Hmmm, I wonder what that means." Arizona fingers the small yellow sign attached to the next cage. Lying on the mat is an adorable gray Husky. Its paperwork lists it as being one year old, and Arizona kneels down to tempt the animal to the door by sticking her fingers through the cage. The animal opens its eyes, but makes no move toward the blonde.

"He's got a heart condition." The women look up to see a volunteer standing over them. "No one wants him, but we have to inform them of everything pertaining to the animal."

"Is it treatable?"

"Totally, with diet and medication he can live a totally normal life, but no one wants to spend that on an animal, especially a rescue."

At that point, Arizona makes the mistake of looking up at her wife and is subjected a perfect blend of her puppy dog gaze and her signature stare down.

"We'll take him."


	8. Chapter 8

Happy New Year all! To celebrate the end of a decade, we have these wonderful snapshots, which you shall receive about one a day! It's all the moments you might have wanted to see but couldn't be fit into the stories. Visits to Addison, friends meeting family, babys' firsts, and their meeting with Michael, it's all here! The timing is approximate, we planned this out after writing Heart Trouble, so we fit things in as best we could.

* 8 *

Telling the parents (October, weekend after #6)

At the sound of a polite cough, Callie turns from her post at the stove to find Kerry standing in the doorway, hands behind her back.

"Is everything alright?" This is the first time the Robbins have visited them at their new house and Callie wants everything to be perfect. She knows that it's pointless, her in laws will love her even if the house is a mess, but Callie still wants everything to be perfect.

"Is there anything that you need to tell me?" Callie raises her eyebrows at Kerry while stirring the tomato sauce on the stove before covering the pot and giving the older woman her full attention.

"I… no, I don't think so."

"You sure?" Kerry brings her hands out from behind her back and slides the object in the across the counter.

Callie looks down to see the positive pregnancy test she had taken earlier in the week. She finally meets the woman's gaze, biting her lip nervously only to find the older woman smiling at her warmly.

"Okay, you were not meant to find that, and you're not meant to know. We were planning on keeping quiet until the first trimester had passed."

"And you never mentioned who is the pregnant one."

"How about you let me keep a few secrets regarding this? And can you please keep it to yourself?"

"Keep what to yourself?" The pair whips around to find Arizona and Daniel standing in the doorway. Callie quickly hides the pregnancy test while Kerry sidles up to her husband.

"Callie was just telling me about a few ideas she has for Arizona's birthday present this year, what's say we let her keep that secret." Kerry drags Daniel out of the kitchen with a wink towards her daughters.

"You told me last month my birthday present would be having a pool put in the backyard… why would my mother feel that needs to be kept a secret?"

"Because she actually found out about our _real_ little secret." Arizona's eyes widen at the object Callie brings out of hiding.

"Well, fortunately she's a better liar than I am."


	9. Chapter 9

Happy New Year all! To celebrate the end of a decade, we have these wonderful snapshots, which you shall receive about one a day! It's all the moments you might have wanted to see but couldn't be fit into the stories. Visits to Addison, friends meeting family, babys' firsts, and their meeting with Michael, it's all here! The timing is approximate, we planned this out after writing Heart Trouble, so we fit things in as best we could.

So, for those of you in the Atlanta area of Georgia... WTF! Who knew that four inches of snow could cause so much havoc! And while it is not yet official, I have it on VERY good authority that school will be cancelled for the week. But there's a neighbor of mine that has a plow and a tractor and he went through the neighborhood clearing the streets, so there's still tons of people walking (and one CRAZY person running) around the streets. I love living in 'small town' GA, it might be 2011, but we're still very much the stereotypical southern-town-care-for-your-neighbors type of people.

* 9 *

Hearing Mac and Matty are engaged

"So, I got an interesting phone call today." Callie greets Arizona with a smile and a glass of wine. She knows the blonde chose to give up alcohol for the duration of Callie's pregnancy, but she also knows that the blonde had a hellacious day at work today and would need something to relax.

"Really? What happened?" Callie follows the blonde into their bedroom, sitting down on the bed while Arizona quickly changes and joins Callie on the bed.

"I got a call from Aria today. She and Jesse have apparently taken the next step in their relationship – something I got far too many details on by the way – and-,"

"Wait, they hadn't slept together yet?"

"Apparently not."

"Okay, so what happened?"

"Aria proposed." The only response is the sound of Arizona choking on the latest sip of wine.

"Come again?"

"Apparently afterwards, Aria proposed to Jesse."

"And?"

"And she's asked me to be her matron of honor."

"I got an interesting call as well today."

"Yeah? What was yours about?"

"Mac asked me to be one of her bridesmaids." Callie stared down at her wife with a smile.

"So your mother must be thrilled… all of her children paired off?"

"Mine? What about yours? She finally gets to plan the million dollar Cinderella wedding of her dreams!"


	10. Chapter 10

Happy New Year all! To celebrate the end of a decade, we have these wonderful snapshots, which you shall receive about one a day! It's all the moments you might have wanted to see but couldn't be fit into the stories. Visits to Addison, friends meeting family, babys' firsts, and their meeting with Michael, it's all here! The timing is approximate, we planned this out after writing Heart Trouble, so we fit things in as best we could.

* 10 *

Arizona delivers Erin's baby (Halloween, 2011)

How did this happen? How did they go from having a girl's night over monster movies and popcorn to Arizona on the floor in front of her sister as Erin gave birth?

Arizona and Callie were visiting John Hopkins to do some lectures, they were staying at Erin and Jamie's brownstone.

Erin had moved too quickly into labor for Callie and Arizona to get her to the hospital. "Push, Erin." Arizona said, getting a view of her sister she really never wanted.

"It fucking hurts." Erin cried as she bore down and pushed. Callie was behind her, helping her. Jamie was at one of his football games.

"I can see the head." Arizona smiled up at her sister. "Come on, Erin a few big pushes and you'll be done." She looked back down, guiding the baby out as Erin pushed.

Arizona cleaned off the little boy after the placenta was delivered. He was perfect. She wrapped him in a blanket, Callie had cleaned off the floor and Erin.

"He's perfect, Erin." Arizona set him back in Erin's arms. "We have to go to the hospital but as far as I see, he's perfect."

Erin looked down at her newborn son and grinned, her dimples coming out. "Hello, little one." The little baby cooed up at his mother, giving her a gummed grin. "I know its gas but I still like to think it's a smile." She whispered to her sister and sister in law.

Arizona and Callie wrapped an arm around each other and rested their hands together. "That will be us soon." Arizona whispered to Callie.

"I can't wait to give us a family." Callie put her hand over her middle and closed her eyes, smiling at the very thought.

* * *

So, the next one brings in the twins! Just so you know :P


	11. Chapter 11

Happy New Year all! To celebrate the end of a decade, we have these wonderful snapshots, which you shall receive about one a day! It's all the moments you might have wanted to see but couldn't be fit into the stories. Visits to Addison, friends meeting family, babys' firsts, and their meeting with Michael, it's all here! The timing is approximate, we planned this out after writing Heart Trouble, so we fit things in as best we could.

Okay, I must admit, I was kind of expecting Callie to announce a pregnancy, what else would be momentous enough to go hand in hand with Arizona trying to win her back? But expecting something and actually hearing it? WOW! Who else had a similar reaction?

* * *

* 11 *

First tooth - 2011 - 8 months old (Christmas time)

"Um, Arizona?" Callie calls her wife into the nursery as she sees the blonde head pass by the room.

"Yes, Calliope?" Arizona pokes her head around the door frame, balancing a stack of towels that will be going into the hall closet. With eight month old twins and 80+ hour work weeks, simple household chores like laundry have fallen by the wayside. On the first day off the two have shared in almost a month they've agreed to catch up on all the laundry and cleaning while trading off with the kids.

"What's this?" The blonde sets the towels down on changing table while joining Callie by Carter's crib. Their oldest has been particularly fussy lately and just a few days ago they'd determined that the infant had begun teething and picked up numbing cream from the clinic that very day.

The oldest Robbins-Torres is happily gnawing away on Callie's cream covered finger. Arizona wipes away a trail of drool from her daughter's chin before looking into her mouth at the top tooth that's coming in.

"That just doesn't look normal, does it?" Arizona smiles at Callie's worried tone, leaning in to place a kiss on the taller woman's cheek. Liam got his first tooth in with no problems, so the oddity of Carter's first tooth obviously threw the woman for a loop.

"It's fine, Calliope. Two of her baby teeth fused together. It's normal and it won't affect her adult teeth any more than if they'd come in normal. Don't freak out so much." She gives their daughter a kiss and one more to Callie before returning to her chores.

"When did you become the rational and level-headed one in regards to our children?" The only response to her question is her wife's laughter ringing through the hallway.


	12. Chapter 12

Happy New Year all! To celebrate the end of a decade, we have these wonderful snapshots, which you shall receive about one a day! It's all the moments you might have wanted to see but couldn't be fit into the stories. Visits to Addison, friends meeting family, babys' firsts, and their meeting with Michael, it's all here! The timing is approximate, we planned this out after writing Heart Trouble, so we fit things in as best we could.

* 12 *

First steps - 2012 - 14 months old

"I should have been there, I should have seen it." Arizona huffed a little as she sat down in her office. She missed Liam's first steps. They had happened when he was in hospital day care and she was in the OR.

"What's wrong, blondie?" Mark asked, dropping off a case file she wanted him to take a look at.

"I missed Liam's first steps." Arizona muttered, taking the file from him.

"Oh." Mark said, thinking about missing Lauren smile for the first time. "You are going to miss stuff like that." He told her, "its part of the job. But you'll be there for the big stuff, the stuff that really matters like school and girls."

"I know." Arizona sighed.

Mark nodded and left, knowing that he might have a way for Arizona and Callie to see their boy's first steps. He wanted to pay them back for taking Lauren after Lexie's 6 week check up.

* * *

"Did you page me?" Callie asked, about an hour later when she walked into Arizona's office.

"No." Arizona said, looking up at her. "Why would I?"

"That's strange then." Callie walked over and gave her wife a kiss. "Someone paged me here."

"I did." Mark said, bring a cart in with a TV on it. "You two missed Liam's first steps and I wanted to give that back to you." He pressed play and a security tape started to play.

Liam was sitting on the floor next to his sister and another boy; they were playing with blocks and toy trucks. Arizona walked into view on the tape and kissed both of them, playing with them for nearly a half hour. She always did that when she was able to right before a hard surgery. She kissed them both goodbye and walked out of view. Liam's little face dropped when she left and slowly he got to his feet, walking a few steps and trying to go after her.

"He wanted me." Arizona whispered, noticing that Mark had left, giving the two women this moment alone.

"And you were with him." Callie whispered, sitting next to Arizona on her couch.

Arizona nodded softly, kissing Callie softly. "How about we go pick the kids up and go home?" She whispered softly.

"Sounds like a perfect idea."


	13. Chapter 13

Happy New Year all! To celebrate the end of a decade, we have these wonderful snapshots, which you shall receive about one a day! It's all the moments you might have wanted to see but couldn't be fit into the stories. Visits to Addison, friends meeting family, babys' firsts, and their meeting with Michael, it's all here! The timing is approximate, we planned this out after writing Heart Trouble, so we fit things in as best we could.

* 13 *

First word – 2013 – 18 months old (Halloween-ish)

Arizona laid in bed, Carter and Liam sharing the big bed with her, she had today off and Callie didn't. Before Callie had left for work she brought the twins in so Arizona could have some cuddle time.

"What should we do today?" She asked the twins.

Carter looked up at her mother with her big blue eyes, sucking her thumb. Liam turned and looked at her, his eyes the same color as Callie's.

"Park."

Arizona didn't register it for a second and then it hit her.

"What?"

"Park." The tiny little voice of her daughter rang out again.

"Do you want to go to the park, Liam?" Arizona asked, tears in her eyes as she wrapped both her babies up and held them tightly.

"Yes." Liam said, his voice just as tiny.

Arizona giggled, holding them both close. "Then let's go." She said, getting out of bed, unable to stop herself from grinning so.


	14. Chapter 14

Happy New Year all! To celebrate the end of a decade, we have these wonderful snapshots, which you shall receive about one a day! It's all the moments you might have wanted to see but couldn't be fit into the stories. Visits to Addison, friends meeting family, babys' firsts, and their meeting with Michael, it's all here! The timing is approximate, we planned this out after writing Heart Trouble, so we fit things in as best we could.

Okay now, these years are approximations, so don't get too upset if they seem off in some way. Now, secondly: what else would the children of Callie and Arizona - who grew up in a hospital, surrounded by doctors - be, but tiny little geniuses? So it's not at all implausible that they start first grade at age 5 and skip third grade... At least that was the plan, so I hope that I managed it alright. Enjoy! Oh yeah, and Carter's complaints about fifth grade were my own :-P

* 14 *

First day of school

August, 2017

"Come on, Arizona." Callie holds her own tears back while dragging her wife away from the front door of their twin's first grade classroom.

August, 2018

"Come on, Calliope." Arizona drags her wife away from the classroom door at their kids' new elementary school. She'd expected this year to be fairly routine, not quite so clingy like her behavior last year.

August, 2019

"I'll walk away if you walk away." The pair leans against the wall outside the door with all the other parents that are saying good bye to their kids. At the end of the previous year, the twins' teacher had approached the surgeons with test scores that showed the twins mental advancement and recommended that the twins skip third grade. So the moms now stand outside the fourth grade classroom while watching the moms from last year let the kids into the rooms next door while dealing with brand new ones this year. Bringing on a new wave of fears.

August, 2020

"This isn't going to prepare us for middle school, Mom." Eight year old Carter stands outside her homeroom complaining to Arizona. Callie had gotten paged in at 3AM and couldn't be there that morning. "We'll be going from one class to another in a line with every kid taking the same classes, that's not preparation."

She might be Arizona's daughter biologically, but one thing that she inherited from Callie was her outspoken nature. The only daughter of Arizona Robbins and Callie Torres never hesitated to speak her mind, a trait that often led to one or both of her mother's being called into the school in the middle of the day.

August, 2021

"Finally, we get a little flexibility." Liam announces when he and Carter get home from the first day of sixth grade. The soft-spoken twin kept his mouth shut about the class change thing the previous year, but as time went on, he began to get just as aggravated about it as his twin was from the start.

While the two had to take the six courses with the rest of their classmates – with little variation in class rosters for advanced courses – they did get to change classes on their own. Finally they were given the responsibility to be somewhat accountable for their own actions.

August, 2022

"By, Aunt Teddy!" Twin voices ring out in good-byes on this particular first day of school. Both their mothers had been paged in early in the morning when a semi collided with a school bus full of kids on their way home from a cheerleading competition. Every resident and attending had been paged in for the case, so the newly retired Teddy Altman was called upon to deliver all the kids to school. The twins had made a good argument to the fact that the parents didn't need to be there. They were old enough to take the bus, but the moms – and many dads – were worried about the safety of school buses that morning, so none of them really needed their parents to escort them to the first day of school that year.

August, 2022

"Top rung for 179 more days." The kids have congregated in the attic of the Robbins-Torres house, newly decorated as the kids' room that quickly became the meeting room for the kids of Seattle Grace-Mercy West surgeons.

"Then we go back to the bottom." Liam responds to his sister's comment, joining her on the couch after tossing his drumsticks and gear to the side.

August, 2023

"So, how'd it go?" The twins follow the smells of dinner cooking into the kitchen and sit down to a plate of cookies and glasses of milk that Callie places in front of them before she returns to preparing dinner. The kids are able to determine that she's making chicken picatta, as is first day of school tradition.

At their mother's evil glare, the kids line up their shoes in the laundry room off the kitchen, while Michael hangs up his car keys on the hook with his mothers' before returning to their seats with a stop by the sink to wash their hands.

"We have them so well trained." Arizona enters the room just in time, giving each of their kids a kiss before moving on to Callie, settling for a kiss on the cheek and wrapping her arms around her wife's waist.

August, 2024

The first day of tenth grade came and went for the twins with little fanfare.

August, 2025

The start of junior year came and went, with Andy tasked as the new chauffer. Liam was recovering nicely from his heart infection the previous spring, though he had to take a spot as a bench warmer for the football team until Erica returned to Seattle and gave him the all clear for sports. Until then, he'd have plenty of time to focus on studying for the ACTs and SATs and looking into colleges and preparing for campus visits.

Despite volleyball taking up much of her time, Carter had no problems keeping up with her younger brother academically. And neither had a problem keeping up with their classmates, despite being two years younger than most of them.

August, 2026

"Senior year." Carter leans back against Andy's car, her brother mimicking her actions by her side.

"Senior year," he echoes, staring up at the building they've attended for the past four years. "Does the building look smaller to you?"

"Not really." Carter cocks her head, waving at Josh when she sees him pull up a few cars down. "Well, let's get to it." The two don their respective letterman's jackets, grabbing their bags before meeting up with their significant others and entering the school building.


	15. Chapter 15

Happy New Year all! To celebrate the end of a decade, we have these wonderful snapshots, which you shall receive about one a day! It's all the moments you might have wanted to see but couldn't be fit into the stories. Visits to Addison, friends meeting family, babys' firsts, and their meeting with Michael, it's all here! The timing is approximate, we planned this out after writing Heart Trouble, so we fit things in as best we could.

* 15 *

First ball glove/cleats/uniforms - 2017 - 5 years old

Arizona held Liam's hand was they walked into Dick's.

"Alright Liam, we need a bat, some baseballs, a glove, cleats, uniform and a helmet." Arizona would much rather spend the money and let Liam get all his own equipment so she knew it was new, safe and they had everything.

"Don't forget a bag, too, Mommy." Five year old Liam said as he pulled her to the baseball section.

"Right." Arizona said.

Liam walked though all five rows of stuff without picking out anything. He wanted to look at everything first, wanted to make sure he picked out the perfect stuff.

Arizona followed Liam, giving him space and just watching. He looked over everything before bringing her one of everything on the list, going for black or red in everything.

Arizona put everything in the bag to make sure it all fit and then walked up to pay.

"Mommy?"

"Yeah Liam?"

"I'm going to play in the MLB one day." The son smiled up at his mother.

"And I'll be in the front row cheering you on." The mother smiled down at her son.


	16. Chapter 16

Happy New Year all! To celebrate the end of a decade, we have these wonderful snapshots, which you shall receive about one a day! It's all the moments you might have wanted to see but couldn't be fit into the stories. Visits to Addison, friends meeting family, babys' firsts, and their meeting with Michael, it's all here! The timing is approximate, we planned this out after writing Heart Trouble, so we fit things in as best we could.

* 16 *

Callie and Arizona meet and adopt Michael - 2017 - 5/10 years old

"Hey, what's going on?" Callie approaches the ER, joining Meredith and Arizona outside an exam room. Her wife and the newly dark scrubbed neurosurgeon look pensive; clearly they need to share something with her.

"Behind this door is Michael Titus," Meredith takes over for Arizona, who clearly is having a problem with this case. Given that they're at work, she has to settle for rubbing her hand in reassurance, which prompts a soft smile from the blonde. "He's ten years old and has suffered a crush injury to his lower left leg as the result of a car crash."

"Okay, are his parents here?" Callie takes the chart from the young surgeon, not noticing the pained look crossing her wife's face, looking up when she's greeted with silence. Arizona is the one to break it.

"His dad was pronounced at the scene, his mother crashed on the way here and was pronounced a few minutes ago."

"So does he have any family coming in?"

"No," Meredith's tone is soft. "His mother lived just long enough to tell us that it was just the three of them in the world."

"Okay, so call Social Services."

"Already done," Arizona's tone is soft, quiet, and Callie knows that she's thinking of their twins and she makes a mental note to call her mother-in-law and have her bring the twins over for lunch. The blonde takes a deep breath in preparation before entering the room, the two others following her.

"Hi, Michael." The young boy on the bed looks up at Arizona's greeting, eyes glistening with unshed tears. "How are you feeling today?"

"My leg hurts. Where's my mommy?" Arizona's breath hitches and Callie steps in to answer the question.

"She's being seen by another doctor."

"Daddy wasn't moving… after the accident, he wasn't moving. Is he okay?"

"I haven't heard anything, but how about we focus on you right now. My name's Callie, and this is Arizona and Meredith, can you tell us about your leg?" Callie moves forward, lifting the loose dressing and barely containing a wince at the sight of the young boy's leg.

"It was stuck… in the car… but the firelady pulled me out."

"Firelady?" Arizona keeps him talking while Callie gently prods the leg.

"The person that pulled me out. I thought it was a fireman, but it was a girl."

"Ahh," Arizona goes through the motions, checking his vitals while trying not to jar his leg and cause more pain.

"Why do I need three doctors? You are all doctors, right?"

"Yes, we're all doctors. I'm a kid doctor, but Callie is a bone doctor and Meredith is a brain doctor, so their job is to fix your leg and make sure that you'll be able to use it again, while my job is to make sure that the rest of you stays healthy."

"My brain isn't in my leg."

"No, but you do have nerves in your leg," Meredith steps up, blocking Michael's view of Callie and his leg. "And your brain controls all of the nerves in your body, so I'm going to take care of the nerves in your leg."

"Okay. Are you a mommy?" Meredith is stunned at the change in conversation from the young boy, but she answers him anyways.

"Yes, I am," Michael looks to Arizona.

"Are you a mommy?" Arizona smiles at him broadly.

"Yes, I am."

"And you, Dr. Callie?" Callie smiles from her post.

"I am, how did you know that?"

"You look like a mommy, and Dr. Meredith explained things without using big words, like my mommy does, and Dr. Arizona has a mommy smile."

"I do, huh." Arizona gently brushes the hair off of Michael's face, noticing a small cut near his hairline and moving to clean it and stitch it up. "Tell me, Michael-,"

"Mommy and daddy call me Mike, you can too, if you want."

"Mike," Arizona smiles, distracting him while cleaning and stitching the cut. "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

"I want to be a sailor."

"A sailor, huh, do you know what kind of boat you want to sail?"

"A CVN 71; daddy told me that's how I got my middle name, Theodore, cause his daddy served on the USS Theodore Roosevelt. But a Marine came to my school the other week, and I think I might want to be a Marine instead, but that's okay, cause the Marines are a department of the Navy, so even if I am a Marine, I'd still be in the Navy, and I could still sail the CVN 71."

"Yes, you could." Arizona looks up to see Callie smiling at her in silent laughter – she's not the only one out there that's been named for a naval vessel. "Well, I don't see why you wouldn't be able to do just that."

"But I can't if you don't fix my leg."

"Well, I'm going to do my best to make sure that dream of yours comes true." Callie speaks up before Arizona can lie. "But for now, I'm going to help deal with this pain of yours. I'm going to bring someone in to give you something to help with that."

"What will you be doing?"

"Well, the doctor is going to give you a shot in your spine, that way, everything from that point down won't hurt anymore, okay?"

"Okay."

The three doctors exit the room and Meredith leaves to order the epidural, leaving the two married attendings at the door.

"See, you're not the only one that's been named for a naval vessel." Callie voices her previous thought, prompting a soft chuckle from her wife. Arizona quickly falls silent, turning to her wife, who sobers at the serious expression on the blonde's face.

"What would you say if I said I wanted us to adopt him?"


	17. Chapter 17

Happy New Year all! To celebrate the end of a decade, we have these wonderful snapshots, which you shall receive about one a day! It's all the moments you might have wanted to see but couldn't be fit into the stories. Visits to Addison, friends meeting family, babys' firsts, and their meeting with Michael, it's all here! The timing is approximate, we planned this out after writing Heart Trouble, so we fit things in as best we could.

Alright, so many people requested to read more about the adoption, but this is all that you get, sorry! :-P Enjoy!

* 17 *

Michael's first night with the Robbins-Torres - 2017 - 5/10 years old

It took 5 long weeks for Mike to get out of the hospital, 5 weeks of surgeries and physical therapy, 5 weeks of horrible hospital food. But tonight he would be going home, his new home, for the first time.

Callie and Arizona had adopted him during his time in the hospital; giving him a family and two people to be his mothers while he was recovering. He took this all surprisingly well, having a few hard moments but overall being very grown up about it for a 10 year old.

"Welcome home, Mike." Callie said, opening the door and walking inside with him and Arizona.

"It's big." Mike said, having seen photos before. "I like it though."

"Mikey." Carter said, giggling as she ran toward them. Carter and he had become very close; Arizona and Callie had made sure the three kids could get along.

"Hey, short stack." He said, putting his arms around her shoulders.

"I'm not pancakes." Carter giggled.

Liam walked out, Cristina's hand in his. "Hi, Mikey." He said, drinking some juice from a wine glass.

"Cristina he's 5, does he really need a wine glass?"

"What?" Cristina asked. "It was clean."

Arizona rolled her eyes, taking the glass and putting his juice in one of his plastic cups. "Hey baby." She smiled, picking up her son.

"What are you two doing for his first night here?" Cristina asked, as she watched the three kids go into the kids room, a small room off the living room, to play.

"We thought a nice quiet dinner, maybe order pizza in." Callie said, standing with her arm around Arizona.

"Well, that's no good." Cristina said, pulling her phone out and texting their group. "The kid has been in PED's hell for 5 weeks, lost his parents and upgraded to the gay models. He needs a party."

Arizona and Callie shook their heads before going over and grabbing some snack food out of the freezer and turning the oven on. "You call for the pizza and I'll call Mark and tell him to pick up a kids movie."

About a half hour or an hour later, Jackson, April, Mark, Lexie, Cristina, Owen, Meredith, Derek, Teddy, Erin, Jamie and Bailey, all with their respective kids, were at the Robbins-Torres house.

Michael walked into the kitchen were Arizona and Callie were getting all the snacks ready to take into the living room.

"Can I help?" He asked, looking at the two women that more or less saved him.

"Nope." Arizona said, grinning at him. "This is your party, go have fun buddy."

Michael blushed a little. "I want to be with you two." He said, giving them both shy smiles.

Callie finished planting something before wiping her hands and hugging Michael. "We want to be with you too."


	18. Chapter 18

Happy New Year all! To celebrate the end of a decade, we have these wonderful snapshots, which you shall receive about one a day! It's all the moments you might have wanted to see but couldn't be fit into the stories. Visits to Addison, friends meeting family, babys' firsts, and their meeting with Michael, it's all here! The timing is approximate, we planned this out after writing Heart Trouble, so we fit things in as best we could.

* 18 *

First soccer ball/cleats/shin guards - 2017 - 5/10 years old

"Okay, do you know what you need?" Callie leads five year old Carter into the sports store, the young child clutching the list of items she'll need for soccer.

"Uh, huh," Carter drags Callie through the store to the shoe section, quickly finding her size and pulling down several boxes of shoes. She's trying on her first pair before someone from the store can make their way over.

"Do you need any help?" The young man looks to be barely sixteen years old, though Callie knows he must be in order to be working there, as he smiles down at the young child that is on to her second pair of cleats.

"Soccer season starts next week!" The young man chuckles at Carter's enthusiasm, remembering when he was that age.

"Ahh, well, what else do you need?" He accepts the list from Callie, looks over Carter quickly and disappears around the corner. By the time he returns, Carter has moved through another two pairs of cleats, and she abandons them all at the sight of everything in his arms.

"Okay, one child's regulation ball," he hands each item to Callie as he goes through them. "Shin guards, socks, and a few pairs of shorts and shirts; they should fit, but we've got dressing room just over there if you'd like to make certain. You know," he kneels down beside Carter, "it's a little easier to tell if a cleat fits if you stand up and walk around in them a little."

"But if they don't feel comfortable when I'm sitting down, then they certainly won't feel comfortable when I'm standing and running in them. But these feel good sitting down, so I'm going to try them out." Before the young man can comment, Carter is up, running up and down the aisles to try out the shoes.

"We learned long ago to just let her do her own thing," Callie reassures the young man. "She's her own person and she knows what she wants."

"My sister is the same way. Let me know if you need anything else." Callie nods in acknowledgement before he moves on to help someone else.

"Well?"

"These are the ones." Carter sits down, taking off the cleats and putting them beside the rest of her gear while she cleans up the rest and stacks them nicely on the bench – the same young man appearing and moving to put them away before she can. "I need a bag, too, Mama." She states once she's gone through all the shorts and shirts and tossed aside any with pink or purple in them. She keeps the mini jerseys in the colors of the Greek, Spanish and Irish World teams, gathering everything up before moving over to the bags, quickly selecting one and stuffing all of her things into it, slinging the bag over her shoulder.

"All done?"

"All done."


	19. Chapter 19

Happy New Year all! To celebrate the end of a decade, we have these wonderful snapshots, which you shall receive about one a day! It's all the moments you might have wanted to see but couldn't be fit into the stories. Visits to Addison, friends meeting family, babys' firsts, and their meeting with Michael, it's all here! The timing is approximate, we planned this out after writing Heart Trouble, so we fit things in as best we could.

* 19 *

Some version of sports entertainment (breaking windows, etc...) - 2018 - 6/11 years old

"Okay, Mark, I'll talk to you later." Callie hangs up the phone as she enters the house, but is prevented from leaving the foyer by her six year old son throwing his arms around her waist and holding on for dear life. "Whoa, Liam, what is it? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, Mama, I just missed you." He looks up at her, plastering a smile on his face in the hopes of distracting her.

"Uh huh, you know you're just as bad of a liar as your mommy is, right."

"It's my fault, Mama," Michael comes from around the corner, playing with the edge of a bandage wrapped around his hand – a bandage he certainly didn't have that morning. "I was playing catch with him… and we broke a window."

"Are you alright?" Callie drops her things and begins to unwrap Michael's hand, wincing when she gets to the large cut across his palm. "What happened here?" She drags him back to the master bath, digging out one of the suture kits they keep on hand and begins to clean and suture the cut.

"I was trying to clean up the glass so that Carter and the others wouldn't cut themselves on it."

"And you cut yourself. Where's this broken window?"

"In the solarium; I've got the others set up in the rec room watching a movie to keep them out of the way."

"And who threw the ball that went through the window?"

"I did, I'm sorry." He's only been with them for a little over a year, but already Callie and Arizona both know all of his tells, and Callie knows that he's lying now.

"It's very admirable of you to try and take the blame for your brother, but you shouldn't, Mike."

"But I didn't catch the ball, I couldn't move fast enough, so it's my fault, too."

"It's no one's fault, Mike. With two boys in the house permanently – and so many others in and out – there's bound to be a few broken windows." Callie finishes and wraps the hand up again. "Now go join the others watching the movie while I finish cleaning up."

Michael shocks her by throwing his arms around Callie's neck and holding on for dear life. When he pulls back later, Callie takes his face in her hands and looks him in the eye.

"We won't get rid of you if you break a few windows, Mike, you're our son, same as Liam, okay?" He nods silently before giving her one more hug and leaving the room.


	20. Chapter 20

Happy New Year all! To celebrate the end of a decade, we have these wonderful snapshots, which you shall receive about one a day! It's all the moments you might have wanted to see but couldn't be fit into the stories. Visits to Addison, friends meeting family, babys' firsts, and their meeting with Michael, it's all here! The timing is approximate, we planned this out after writing Heart Trouble, so we fit things in as best we could.

I never much liked girl scouts... I lived for the weekends where my father would go with the boys on their troop camping trips, because it meant that I could go with them. So there is definitely a little of me in Carter here. :-P

* 20 *

Girl scouts - 2019 - 7/12 years old

"Maybe you should consider some other activity for Carter." Arizona looks at the harried looking mother as she picks Carter up from Girl Scouts. It's only been three weeks and already the group has had their first camp out and the den mother looks ready to have a nervous breakdown. She's so eager to get Carter away from the group that she hands her off and quickly moves away to help another girl before Arizona can say anything. Looking down at her daughter, she sees her own eyes grinning back at her mischievously and immediately grows suspicious; she remains silent until they're packed away in the car and on their way home.

"So why does your den mother think that you shouldn't be participating in Girl Scouts?"

"I don't know, I was playing their games and she decided not to let me keep playing with them." There's clearly something she's not saying and Arizona simply stares at her, waiting for her to continue on. "We were playing pranks and telling ghost stories."

"Ahh… you know, Mike was saying something last night about his collection of fake bugs being missing… along with his fake vomit…" Carter smiles impishly.

"I got as many of them back as I could, but Ms. Howard wouldn't give me back the fake scorpion or tarantula or two of the snakes."

"Hopefully that is what's in the separate bag that she gave me. What else did you use them for?"

"Just put them in the food… and a couple of the girls' sleeping bags… and… Ms Howard's… sleeping bag. They didn't believe me when I told them that the real thing was a good source of protein. "

"Clearly you've been spending far too much time with your brothers and Uncle Mark and Uncle Owen."

"Actually Uncle John was the one that told me the real bugs were a good source of protein. And the boys are the only ones that can keep up with me and my pranks."

"Fine, think of something else that you'd like to do with your time and we'll discuss it with Mama tonight after dinner."

"Okay," Carter moves to get out of the car once they've pulled into their driveway, but she's stopped by her mom, who simply holds out her hand silently requesting all the fake bugs. Carter sighs audibly before digging the box of bugs out of her bag and handing them over. She's stopped once again, and this time her mother adds the cocked eyebrow and Carter hands over the three fake snakes she was able to retrieve before exiting the car and entering the house.

Callie is waiting for them in the foyer. She accepts the kiss from Carter before sending her on her way and turning to Arizona, waiting until she hears Carter's bedroom door shut before speaking.

"Why was there a hysterical message from Ms Howard on our answering machine last night?"


	21. Chapter 21

Happy New Year all! To celebrate the end of a decade, we have these wonderful snapshots, which you shall receive about one a day! It's all the moments you might have wanted to see but couldn't be fit into the stories. Visits to Addison, friends meeting family, babys' firsts, and their meeting with Michael, it's all here! The timing is approximate, we planned this out after writing Heart Trouble, so we fit things in as best we could.

* 21 *

Michael talks to Matt about joining and Danny - 2020 - 8/13 years old

Matty walked into the kitchen, it was Thanksgiving and the Robbins Clan was at Callie and Arizona's for the week.

"Hey Mike." He smiled at the nephew.

"Uncle Matt, can I talk to you about something?" The 13 year old asked.

"Of course." Matt smiled, putting his plate down.

"Do you think you could help me get into the Naval Academy?"

Matty stopped washing his plate and turned to face the younger boy. "You want to be an officer in the navy?"

"I'm thinking Marines but yeah an officer." Michael nodded. He had wanted to for a very long time, wanted to be a part of the military.

"Well I can't get you in but I can help you train, teach you, so when you do get in you are ready." Matty offered, knowing the young man in front of him would be very good at serving his country.

Michael grinned and hugged his uncle. "Thank you. But don't tell Mom or Mama." He said very softly. "I don't want them to think I want to leave them."

Matty looked down at the young man in front of them. "They won't Mike, they know at some point all three of you will go out into the world."

"I know but still." Michael blushed a little. "I want to tell them when I figure out a way to not make Mom think of Uncle Danny."

"I don't know if that is ever going to happen." Matty said softly. "But I know Arizona and I know she will be proud you want to serve."

Michael grinned a little. "So when can we start?"


	22. Chapter 22

Happy New Year all! To celebrate the end of a decade, we have these wonderful snapshots, which you shall receive about one a day! It's all the moments you might have wanted to see but couldn't be fit into the stories. Visits to Addison, friends meeting family, babys' firsts, and their meeting with Michael, it's all here! The timing is approximate, we planned this out after writing Heart Trouble, so we fit things in as best we could.

* 22 *

Music lessons - 2022 - 10/15 years old

"I hate that old bat."

"She's a horrible teacher."

"Mom, Mama really why do you send us to her?"

Carter, Liam and Michael walked into the house from their music lessons with Mrs. O'Perry from down the block.

"She is really good." Arizona pointed out.

"But she is soooooooooooo old." Carter whined a little. "I mean she was learning to play music when Kiss was still in the top 20."

"Hey." Callie gave her daughter a look. "I loved Kiss growing up."

"Of course you did Ma." Liam kissed her cheek, setting his drum bag down.

"Why did you want kids again?" Callie asked Arizona, earning her a smack on the ass.


	23. Chapter 23

Happy New Year all! To celebrate the end of a decade, we have these wonderful snapshots, which you shall receive about one a day! It's all the moments you might have wanted to see but couldn't be fit into the stories. Visits to Addison, friends meeting family, babys' firsts, and their meeting with Michael, it's all here! The timing is approximate, we planned this out after writing Heart Trouble, so we fit things in as best we could.

* 23 *

Soccer/baseball summer camp - 2023 - 11/16 years old

"So, are you psyched?" Carter and Liam roll their eyes at their mothers' enthusiasm. You'd think they were leaving for college, not summer camp.

The two had managed to find one camp that catered to seven different sports, that way they could both still be somewhat together for the summer, and they'd be staying all summer. They'd be attending soccer and baseball seminars for the first half of the summer before switching to volleyball and football for two weeks and ending their summer with two weeks of basketball. They were both a little worried because it would be the longest they've ever been away from their mothers in a single stretch. Before this, they've only ever done two or three weeks at a time in Miami with their grandparents' Torres, and they were both a tad worried.

"We're cool, Mom." Liam replies, only excitement coming out in his voice. "Are you nervous?" He turns the question around, "you've never had the house to yourself before, with Mike off at summer seminar and then living and working with Uncle Matt, you two are going to have a lot of free time on your hands this summer."

He immediately regrets his teasing when he sees a single tear work its way down Callie's cheek before she wipes it away.

"Just don't forget to write, okay?"

"Yes, Mom." The two chorus with smiles.


	24. Chapter 24

Happy New Year all! To celebrate the end of a decade, we have these wonderful snapshots, which you shall receive about one a day! It's all the moments you might have wanted to see but couldn't be fit into the stories. Visits to Addison, friends meeting family, babys' firsts, and their meeting with Michael, it's all here! The timing is approximate, we planned this out after writing Heart Trouble, so we fit things in as best we could.

* 24 *

First pro soccer game (Viewer) - 2024 - 12/17 years old

"This… is… CRAZY!" Carter looks around at the masses of people in the streets of Athens. Their moms had arranged for the last two weeks of summer to be spent in Greece and Abuela Torres had surprised her with tickets to the Women's World Cup game. Now she understood why she got such a simple gift from the woman this year.

"Having fun, sweetie?" Callie grins down at her daughter. Today was supposed to be between Carter and her grandmother, but the older woman had come down with a stomach virus and wasn't able to make it, so it became a mother/daughter excursion. Little did Carter know, but there was another surprise waiting for her after the game.

* * *

"No freaking way!" She doesn't wait for a response, but grabs the locker room pass and rushes into the area, stopping only to flash the pass at the security guard at the door. Callie following at a much slower pace; she stops just inside the door to find Carter staring between the two doors, debating whether to go into the Ireland team locker room first or the Greece locker room. Growing up she'd never been able to choose a favorite team, and this year was no exception, the right half of her face was painted in Ireland's colors, while the left was done up in Greece. Most people pray for their team to make it to the finals, she was praying for a team that wasn't hers to make it… it would have made this decision so much easier.

"Let's go to Greece first… support the runner-ups, then you can spend more time with Ireland."

"Yay!" She moves forward, leaving Callie behind laughing… she really can be so much like Arizona at times.

* * *

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!" Carter drops all her souvenirs from the game inside the door and embraces her grandmother whole heartedly. The older woman is quick to return the embrace, grinning broadly at her granddaughter's enthusiasm.

"You're very welcome, dear. Did you have a good time?"

"I did! So much! Thank you!" She grabs her things and goes to put it all in her room, passing her brothers on the way.

Callie waits until her sons have left before turning to her mother.

"How did it go at the doctors?"


	25. Chapter 25

Happy New Year all! To celebrate the end of a decade, we have these wonderful snapshots, which you shall receive about one a day! It's all the moments you might have wanted to see but couldn't be fit into the stories. Visits to Addison, friends meeting family, babys' firsts, and their meeting with Michael, it's all here! The timing is approximate, we planned this out after writing Heart Trouble, so we fit things in as best we could.

* 25 *

Michael gets caught with a girl in his room - 2024 - 12/17 years old

"I love your parents are working tonight." Kelly Bradley said as she laid in jeans and a bra on Michael's bed.

"There are some perks to that." Michael nodded, laying shirtless next to her. They had been dating all of a month and at 17 that was forever.

"Do you have any rubbers?" She asked, her hand going to his thigh.

"Yeah?" He asked, unsure when she came over that that is where tonight would end up.

"Yup." She smirked as she reached over and grabbed one from his bedside table.

Michael just got his pants off when his door opened. He sat there in his boxers with a condom in his hand and a half naked girl on his bed.

"Mike we're home." Arizona poked her head in. Her faced turned in a second. "Both of you get dressed and get downstairs, now."

Michael groaned when he watched his mom walk down the hall. "She is going to kill me." He muttered, tossing the opened condom in the trash. He knew that the sex wasn't the thing that turned Arizona's face like that. He lied to them, he told them he didn't have her over tonight. Then he snuck her into his room to have sex with her.

Callie and Arizona were both in the living room. "Go home, Kelly." Callie told her, knowing her father. "Tell Bob to call me tomorrow."

"Yes Dr. Torres." Kelly muttered, ducking her head and rushing out of the house.

"You lied to you and you snuck behind our backs." Arizona said.

"Yes ma'am." Michael knew lying some more would do him no good. "But in my defense I didn't ask her over to have sex."

"We asked you if Kelly was coming over you said no." Callie said firmly.

"I know." He whispered softly.

"You are 17 years old Michael, if you want to have safe, protected sex that is one thing." Callie said, knowing Arizona wasn't a huge fan of that but still. "But lying and sneaking behind our backs is crossing the line."

"Yes ma'am." Michael hung his head. "What's my punishment?"

"Nothing." Arizona answered. "Just knowing we are really disappointed in you and we expected more from someone who wants to be an officer in the US military." She knew it was a little bit of a low blow to go there but she did.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, looking at both his moms. "You took me in after my biological parents died. I shouldn't let you down like this. You two have done nothing but love me and provide for me."

Callie and Arizona moved to the couch Michael was on and gave him a big hug. "We love you Mike." Arizona whispered.

"More than anything." Callie added. "You, Liam and Carter are the best three things in our lives."

"I love you two." Michael held the two women tightly. "I love you too."


	26. Chapter 26

Happy New Year all! To celebrate the end of a decade, we have these wonderful snapshots, which you shall receive about one a day! It's all the moments you might have wanted to see but couldn't be fit into the stories. Visits to Addison, friends meeting family, babys' firsts, and their meeting with Michael, it's all here! The timing is approximate, we planned this out after writing Heart Trouble, so we fit things in as best we could.

* 26 *

First MLB game (viewer) - 2024 - 12/17 years old

"This is awesome." Liam said, almost in shock as he, Arizona and Erin made their ways to their seats high atop the Green Monster at Fenway Park. "Game Seven of the World Series, 20 years since the Sox came back from being down 0 - 3 against the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS."

"Alright Buddy, calm down a little." Erin laughed, holding her beer and her three hotdogs.

"Please Erin you squealed when I asked you to come." Callie was the one that was going to fill the threesome but she ended up being called in on a case she couldn't turn down.

"I may have." She said, sitting and putting her hotdogs in front of her.

"Mom?" Liam looked over at her as the players took their spots on the field.

"Yeah baby?"

"This is the best birthday ever." Liam grinned, kissing her cheek. "I love you."

Arizona couldn't help a little tear falling. "I love you, too, Liam Daniel."


	27. Chapter 27

Happy New Year all! To celebrate the end of a decade, we have these wonderful snapshots, which you shall receive about one a day! It's all the moments you might have wanted to see but couldn't be fit into the stories. Visits to Addison, friends meeting family, babys' firsts, and their meeting with Michael, it's all here! The timing is approximate, we planned this out after writing Heart Trouble, so we fit things in as best we could.

* 27 *

The sex talk - 2025 - 12/17 years old

"And that's how you put a condom on." Arizona muttered, holding up a banana with a condom on it.

"Gross." Carter muttered, not really having enjoyed watching her mother do that. "And it's not hard to figure out how to do it."

"Carter learning this stuff the right way is important." Callie told her daughter, taking her hand for a moment. "Learning that yes sex is great, but you always need to take steps to make it safe, is important."

"I have two doctor's as parents. I have grown up in a hospital. Lauren, Brook and I use to grab condoms and blow them up and use them like balloons. Trust me Mom and Ma I know about condoms and safe sex."

"You aren't . . ." Arizona trailed off, paling a little.

"No!" Carter groaned. "I'm 12! I just mean I have been around medical stuff all my life. I know the drill."

"Fine." Callie said softly. "You have finished your hour, go send Liam in."

Carter got up. "Hey Liam, Mom and Ma want you, something about baseball tickets." She lied as she left.

"Baseball?" Liam said, running in the room. He saw the banana too late. "Not the sex talk." He groaned.


	28. Chapter 28

Happy New Year all! To celebrate the end of a decade, we have these wonderful snapshots, which you shall receive about one a day! It's all the moments you might have wanted to see but couldn't be fit into the stories. Visits to Addison, friends meeting family, babys' firsts, and their meeting with Michael, it's all here! The timing is approximate, we planned this out after writing Heart Trouble, so we fit things in as best we could.

* 28 *

Michael gets into the NA - 2025 - 13/18 years old

"Michael," The young man in question turns around at the sound of his name coming from his mother. The two women and his younger brother and sister are sitting in the solarium, waiting for him, all sporting serious faces.

"Sit down," Arizona pats the cushion of the chair beside her, indicating for their oldest to have a seat. Michael sits down nervously, looking to his siblings in the hope they'll reassure him that everything is alright, but their expressions don't give him the slightest indication of what's going on.

"I got a phone call today… from Senator Brandt's office." The blonde has his full attention now. This is the call he's been waiting six months for. Two months earlier he'd found out that he was Congressman Shores' second choice appointee for the Naval Academy, and he'd been hoping beyond hope that he wouldn't be denied the appointment from his Senator.

When Arizona looks up, Michael is confused to see that she's fighting a smile. Looking over to Callie, he sees that she's also biting her lips to prevent a smile from coming out.

"You got it, sweetie," Michael still doesn't get it. "You got his primary nomination." Next thing Arizona knows, she's being spun around the room by her oldest child, the sound of her family's laughter surrounding her.

"I gotta call Grandpa… and Uncle Matt, and Aunt Mac, and Uncle Jamie…" His voice trails off as he sprints out of the room, rushing back to give Callie and his siblings an equally large hug before sprinting back out towards the phone to call his family.

Leaving the others behind, laughing at his enthusiasm.


	29. Chapter 29

Happy New Year all! To celebrate the end of a decade, we have these wonderful snapshots, which you shall receive about one a day! It's all the moments you might have wanted to see but couldn't be fit into the stories. Visits to Addison, friends meeting family, babys' firsts, and their meeting with Michael, it's all here! The timing is approximate, we planned this out after writing Heart Trouble, so we fit things in as best we could.

* 29 *

Drivers ed - 2027 - 15/20 years old

"Most people experience this when they're sophomores." Carter takes a seat in the classroom after school and practice, "not seniors."

"Yeah, well, we're not exactly normal seniors." Liam takes the seat beside her. "Just like next year we won't exactly be normal college freshman."

"Yeah, most college freshmen have been driving for two years by the time they start school; we'll have been driving for two months. I actually feel embarrassed to be here." She looks around the room at the boys and girls that are slowly filling the room. She nods to a few members of the volleyball and soccer teams as they enter, fighting the urge to slouch down in her chair. "We're seniors surrounded by sophomores."

"Would you rather be a sophomore and feel like a moron because you're two years ahead of your peers academically and being held back?" Liam is forever the logical one… they aren't really certain who he inherited that from.

"That never would have happened. Mom and Mama would have moved us ahead, or at the very least joint enrolled us or argued for us to take a few extra AP classes. But that's not the point."

"So what is the point?" He greets a fellow football player before returning his attention to his sister.

"My point is, intellectually we're seniors – no, intellectually we're college sophomores – but we're forced to be dumbed down in this one arena."

"Mind may be fully developed but biologically, still children. Ergo kept with the sophomores." The two are forced into silence when the instructor enters the room and writes his name on the board.


	30. Chapter 30

Happy New Year all! To celebrate the end of a decade, we have these wonderful snapshots, which you shall receive about one a day! It's all the moments you might have wanted to see but couldn't be fit into the stories. Visits to Addison, friends meeting family, babys' firsts, and their meeting with Michael, it's all here! The timing is approximate, we planned this out after writing Heart Trouble, so we fit things in as best we could.

* 30 *

First driving lesson - 2027 - 15/20 years old

Liam was behind the wheel of Callie's Ford, Carter in the back seat and Arizona next to her.

"Now Liam you are going to take a right here." Callie told him, wanting to see him have to cross a lane of traffic.

"Yes, ma'am." He said, really focusing on what he was doing. He started to go but another car, one that was speeding came round the curve and nearly took them out.

"You have to watch for stuff like that." Carter said from the back seat.

"Shut up, Carter." Liam muttered, finishing the turn.

"Now turn into our driveway." Callie said, seeing Arizona give Carter a look out of the rear view mirror.

"Not bad, Liam." Callie smiled at her son. "You do need to watch a little more but you did well."

"Thanks." Liam smiled, still looking a little nervous.

"Carter, your turn."

Carter and Liam traded places, she took her time and adjusted the seat and everything. She pulled back and ran into the mailbox.

"Oops." Carter blushed a little, cringing.

"This is why we don't take the Thunderbird." Callie muttered to herself, getting out to check the damage.


	31. Chapter 31

Happy New Year all! To celebrate the end of a decade, we have these wonderful snapshots, which you shall receive about one a day! It's all the moments you might have wanted to see but couldn't be fit into the stories. Visits to Addison, friends meeting family, babys' firsts, and their meeting with Michael, it's all here! The timing is approximate, we planned this out after writing Heart Trouble, so we fit things in as best we could.

* 31 *

Driving test - 2028 - 16/21 years old

"Now remember to buckle your seatbelt-," Callie tries to give some last minute advice.

"And check the mirrors." Arizona cuts in. "Just because it's only a five minute test doesn't mean that you don't have to behave as if you're not going on a five day road trip."

"Because if you can't follow the rules of the road in a five minute driving tests, then they'll think you can't follow the rules of the road on a five day road trip." Callie finishes.

"Thank you," Carter replies dryly, her moms have been driving the details of the road rules book into their heads since they'd picked it up the previous year on their birthday. "Now please go stand over there with the rest of the parents while we take the test."

"She totally gets the attitude from you." Callie comments to her wife as they walk away.

"Me? I'd have been in tears after the 'thank you' if I'd tried to say that to my parents! That's all you." They stop at the knoll where the parents have congregated, waving at their kids from their post beside their car. Oddly, their kids requested the same car, so they only brought one for the driving test. The Toyota SUV hybrid they brought is Carter's, and the newest version of the car Arizona drove when she and Callie had first started dating.

* * *

"Looked good to me." Callie comments from their post as Carter finishes the test, handing the keys off to Liam for his turn.

"Her parallel parking was off." Arizona comments, still afraid of change, and what it means for their kids; Callie pulls her into an embrace, kissing her cheek reassuringly as their son begins his test. Carter is keeping her back to them, knowing that her emotions are an open book, much like her mother's.

Five minutes later, as Liam pulls up, the women make their way toward their kids to see each of them shaking hands with the tester, taking their test reports in return. The women watch their kids swap papers, minutes later, Liam reluctantly hand his sister a dollar, letting the women know that she scored higher than him. They turn at their mothers' subtle cough, grins bright and wide.

"We passed!"


	32. Chapter 32

Happy New Year all! To celebrate the end of a decade, we have these wonderful snapshots, which you shall receive about one a day! It's all the moments you might have wanted to see but couldn't be fit into the stories. Visits to Addison, friends meeting family, babys' firsts, and their meeting with Michael, it's all here! The timing is approximate, we planned this out after writing Heart Trouble, so we fit things in as best we could.

Advance notice: 'Butter bars' are lingo for the insignia for a Marine Second Lieutenant, because they are gold bars, thereby they look like bars of butter (I never really got how they came about, but us Marines are crazy freaks, so you don't really question their reasoning :P). Plebes are what the freshman are called. And tradition calls for newly minted officers to pass a silver dollar onto the first person to salute them (usually the same one that was passed onto them when they were the first to salute a new officer, or a family one).

* 32 *

Michael brings his GF home for the first time/NA graduation - 2028 - 16/21 years old

"Second Lieutenant Michael Theodore Robbins-Torres!" Arizona exclaims as her son approaches the family after his graduation ceremony. "That has a nice ring to it, I think."

With his height and strength, Michael wraps an arm around each of his mothers, easily lifting them off the ground in a bear hug, putting them down only when their shrieks have turned to laughter.

"Now," Michael holds a closed fist out to each of them, opening them to reveal his butter bars, one for each mother to put on each shoulder. "If you will. I put a chalk mark on where it's supposed to go." He whispers the last bit to them so he won't have to fix it later. Kerry gets into position to take pictures, while Jamie stands by with the video camera. Once his insignia are in place and his moms have each dusted the invisible lint off his uniform, he stands tall to his grandfather, saluting the older man, who returns the salute before drawing the young man in for a hug.

"Do I really have to salute you?" The group turns around to see Ryleigh approaching. Despite her joking tone, she quickly schools her smile and smartly salutes Michael, who returns the gesture before digging into his pocket for the silver dollar that he hands her, pulling her into a hug after.

"Congratulations, Mikey." She smiles up at him before pulling away in respect for all the men and women in uniform in the group. Dan waves her down before she can come to attention for the group.

"This is Ryleigh," Mike makes the introductions around the group. The women all pull her into hugs, as do some of the men, while she nervously shakes hands with Daniel, Matty and Mac. After all, it's not every day a midshipman is faced with a bird colonel and two of her professors in such a casual setting. Once they get to Erin, she hugs the young girl before drawing back and studying the girl.

"You look oddly familiar, have we met before?"

"Uh…"

"You walked in on her and I in an on-call room last spring." Michael's comment causes abrupt silence when everyone turns to face the group. Ryleigh, who isn't totally used to Michael's personality around his family, turns beet red, ducking her head in embarrassment.

"Right!" Erin remembers now. "You were trying to sneak to the cardiac wing after donating marrow for Liam and ducked into one to hide from me. They were both fully dressed." Erin reassures everyone with the last comment, and everyone relaxes, chuckling softly.

"So, what time is Andy being released?" Arizona questions her sister in reference to her nephew that just completed his plebe year. "You know Calliope's parents are anxious to see us, they're both upset that they couldn't make it up here this week." Carlos' ALS had taken a sudden turn that spring and he was confined to the bed with a lung infection and couldn't make it up for the graduation.

"He doesn't get released until Monday morning, Mom." Michael answers. "The plebes have to stand guard for the weekend."

"That's why we rented the house for the weekend, rather than renting out a floor of a hotel." Kerry reminds her daughter. "Carlos and Andromeda are aware of this."

"Right, sorry, I'm just super excited. A week at the beach, yay!" Despite being in her 50s, Arizona is no less enthusiastic now than she was when she first moved to Seattle, and Callie chuckles at her wife's enthusiasm, pulling her in for a hug.

"Who's the friend you asked to join you, Mikey?" Callie recalls the request her oldest made when they first made plans for his vacation.

"That would be Ryleigh." The group falls silent once again, realizing exactly why Michael had been so nervous when making the introductions earlier. Once again, Ryleigh ducks her head nervously, waiting for the reaction of the group.

"Well, you know the rules." Arizona finally speaks up. After catching Michael and a girl in his room in high school, the women had been tempted to reinstate Daniel and Kerry's old rule, before eventually finding a happy medium. If the boys ever brought a girl home, the bedroom door had to be kept open, and if they chose to share a room in Miami, than the same would take place. And if any noises were heard, they would have to suffer the embarrassing consequences of anyone hearing anything. From Liam and Carter, that could be dang near disastrous.

"Yes, ma'am." Michael looks down in embarrassment before clearing his throat and looking around. "Is anyone else hungry? I'm starving."

"Yes, please." Ryleigh speaks up quickly.

"Why don't we take you two back to the dorms to grab your bags and then we'll head back to the house for dinner." The group agrees to Callie's suggestion before they start making the trip back to the dorms.


	33. Chapter 33

Happy New Year all! To celebrate the end of a decade, we have these wonderful snapshots, which you shall receive about one a day! It's all the moments you might have wanted to see but couldn't be fit into the stories. Visits to Addison, friends meeting family, babys' firsts, and their meeting with Michael, it's all here! The timing is approximate, we planned this out after writing Heart Trouble, so we fit things in as best we could.

* 33 *

College visits - 2028 - 16/21 years old

"Yale."

"Harvard."

"Nope Yale."

"No Harvard."

"Liam come on." Carter groaned as they sat in her bedroom, they had just gotten back from seeing Harvard and Yale. "We want to go to the same school so we have to agree and Yale is way better."

"Carter then you bend. Harvard has a great psychology department and I want to get a degree before I go into the bigs." Liam argued.

"And Yale's Pre Med program is killer and I want to be a doctor." She muttered, really getting for the first time they weren't going to pick the same school.

"We aren't going to the same college are we?"

"I don't think so." She whispered, looking at her twin. "I still love you, even if you go to an inferior college."

Liam laughed softly, shaking his head. "I still love you even if you are full of shit."


	34. Chapter 34

Happy New Year all! To celebrate the end of a decade, we have these wonderful snapshots, which you shall receive about one a day! It's all the moments you might have wanted to see but couldn't be fit into the stories. Visits to Addison, friends meeting family, babys' firsts, and their meeting with Michael, it's all here! The timing is approximate, we planned this out after writing Heart Trouble, so we fit things in as best we could.

* 34 *

Becoming a camp counselor - 2029 - 17/22 years old

"Well, this is one way to spend our summers." Carter dumps her bags at the foot of her bed, kicking her footlocker under her bed before going to help her brother take his things to the cabin across from hers. "Am I the only one that finds it a little ridiculous that we had to wait to become counselors?"

"Again?" Liam is beyond used to his sister making cracks about how they have to wait to do certain things because of their chronological age not matching up to their emotional and intellectual age. "It's the same as everything else we've had to wait for, Carter. The camp actually requires you to be 18 to be a counselor, but because we've been coming here for so long and because we have the experience of collegiate training and our mothers' signatures, they're allowing us to come on board a year early."

They had each been given permission by their coaches to miss out on summer training for their respective sports to work that summer. Provided they did some light scouting of the kids on their teams. They were both really looking forward to the summer coaching the kids at their former sports camp. Their photos still graced the mess hall walls for more than a few camp records that no one had been able to best them at and they looked forward to seeing if there were going to be any kids around this summer that could come close.

"Whatever," Carter dumps her end of the trunk, forcing Liam to drop his none too gracefully. He stacks his gear at the foot of the bed before slinging an arm around his sister, leading her out to her car so they can get the rest of their gear.

"It'll be good for you." Liam goes into supportive brother mode. "It'll be good for you to get away from Josh for a bit."

"Yeah, only for you to get to see him again in the fall, while I'll have to wait until Thanksgiving." Carter thoughts went to her brother's best friend. He'd gotten a scholarship to Harvard, same as Liam, so once again the pair could be the pitcher/catcher dream team they'd been in high school.

"You mean you won't be coming to our opening night? I'm hurt little sister."

"Stop calling me that." Carter reaches over to pinch her brother in retaliation. He'd often called her little sister in reference to her size, citing that 'tiny sister' doesn't have the same ring to it. "And if my schedule next year is anything like it was last year, I'll be lucky if I have the time to call you, let alone drive down to see you. Besides, I'll have my own training to deal with."

"You wouldn't think we'd have to work so hard in the fall seeing as our sports are technically spring sports." He unlocks the back, handing Carter her bedding before pulling his out and locking the car back up, handing her the keys.

"Hey, you're the one with the fall playing schedule, not me. But there's a reason Yale's soccer team is the best in the nation, we work our asses off so we can kick yours and everyone else's come spring. It will be hard to be away from Josh though. We're finally on the same coast and we won't even be able to enjoy each other's company. I do hope we make it."

"Sweetie, you two managed to maintain your relationship from 3000 miles this past year, what makes you think it'll be any harder from 120 miles?"

"Just because we managed, doesn't mean that it was easy."

"Nothing worth having ever is, little sister. We'll make it, we always do. And at least your boyfriend is close by; my fiancée is still 3000 miles away."

"Uncle Mark is finally letting you call Lauren that?"

"Yup, he said that as soon as I got her a ring, I could call her that."

"And mom let you have her ring." The Claddaugh ring that had been Arizona's wedding band had long since been promised to Liam, while Callie's had long since been declared taken by Carter.

"And since she and mama are retiring next year, mom finally let mama buy her a wedding set, so she gave me her wedding ring – even though she'll be taking the set off for surgery for the next year."

"Who would've guessed we'd find our soul mates in high school?"

"Yeah, given who raised us and how many mistakes they made before getting together, it's kind of funny." The pair shares a laugh while Carter shakes out her bedding and Liam helps her make her bed before they head over to his cabin to do the same.

"This will definitely be the summer of a lifetime, right?"

"Right you are, baby brother."


	35. Chapter 35

Happy New Year all! To celebrate the end of a decade, we have these wonderful snapshots, which you shall receive about one a day! It's all the moments you might have wanted to see but couldn't be fit into the stories. Visits to Addison, friends meeting family, babys' firsts, and their meeting with Michael, it's all here! The timing is approximate, we planned this out after writing Heart Trouble, so we fit things in as best we could.

* 35 *

First times Lauren/Josh - 2029 - 17/22 years old

"Mom, Ma, please." Carter asked, her and Liam on one side of the breakfast bar and Arizona and Callie on the other.

"It's our last night at home and we won't see them until Thanksgiving." Liam added.

Both teenagers would be going to leave for college the next day and they wanted Josh and Lauren to be able to spend the night.

"But you four spend all day together." Arizona said, really not liking this idea.

"Mom I want to spend my last night at home with Josh, in my bed, before I have to leave him for 3 months." Carter begged.

"And I want the same with Lauren. Besides I'm engaged to her, like ring on her finger, chicken or beef at the reception, engaged." Liam said, trying to get them to say yes.

"Fine. But we don't want to hear anything." Callie groaned, knowing they needed a night before they went away to be with their partners.

"Yay!" Carter hugged them both before dashing to the door to go pick up Josh.

"Thanks." Liam smiled before going to call Lauren.

* * *

"So that's sex. Wow." Lauren said, cuddled up to Liam. "I kind of hate you for showing me that and then leaving me for three months."

Liam laughed, his arm snuggly around her waist. "You will be out there next year. Only 120 miles away." In an irony he couldn't describe Josh was going to Harvard with him and Lauren to Yale with Carter.

"120 long miles." She pouted before kissing the long scar over his heart. "I'm glad you lived." She whispered, resting her head over his beating heart.

"Me too." Liam whispered, holding her ever closer.

* * *

"No wonder you strut." Carter giggled, moving off of Josh and onto her side.

"Well when I have a girl like you it gives me the little bit of confidence to strut a little bit." Josh laughed deeply, kissing her with major passion for being so tired.

"I'm going 3,000 miles away tomorrow." Carter whispered, Josh's state championship ring on her left hand. It wasn't an engagement more of a promise of one day.

"Yeah, you are." Josh whispered back, kissing her softer than before. "And you are going to rock the soccer world." He whispered, brushing the sweaty hair out of her eyes.

"You think so?"

"I know so babe." Josh gave her a lopsided smile.

"I love you Josh."

"I love you Carter."

Carter snuggled up to Josh, her body tired and her mind fried. Tomorrow she was done with being a kid. Tomorrow she was one step closer to being an adult.

* * *

Next one is the last one folks! But no worries, there's still one more story left!


	36. Chapter 36

Happy New Year all! To celebrate the end of a decade, we have these wonderful snapshots, which you shall receive about one a day! It's all the moments you might have wanted to see but couldn't be fit into the stories. Visits to Addison, friends meeting family, babys' firsts, and their meeting with Michael, it's all here! The timing is approximate, we planned this out after writing Heart Trouble, so we fit things in as best we could.

* 36 *

Liam's first MLB game - 2035 - 23/28 years old

"Well Josh this is a big day for the Boston Red Sox." Joe Buck said to his co announcer, former Red Sox Josh Beckett.

"Right you are Joe." Josh said from high atop their pace over Fenway Park. "Tonight 23 year old Southpaw out of Yale, Liam Robbins-Torres, is making his first MLB start."

* * *

Arizona, Callie, Carter, Michael, Ryleigh, Erin, Jamie their kids, Andy, Kate and William; Aria, Jesse and their kids Jesse, Elisa, Jade, Nina, Rosa, Carlos Juan; Matt, Mac and their kids Charles, Matthew and Lea; Mark, Lexie, Lauren who was sporting a baby bump were all in the field box, right next to the dugout.

"I can't believe he's making his first MLB start!" Carter cheered as the Red Sox took the field.

"It's awesome." Michael said from beside his baby sister.

Callie and Arizona both had tears in their eyes as they looked at their little boy on the mound.

"He looks good in that uniform." Callie whispered to her wife.

"Yeah he does." Arizona replayed.

* * *

"Today is always the first game for the new Red Sox catcher – Liam Robbins-Torres's brother-in-law of all things – Josh Hall." Joe announced.

"It's a good day for that family." Josh laughed softly.

* * *

Josh trotted up to Liam right before the game started. "Ready to do this bro?"

"Let's roll." Liam flushed a smile toward his family as Josh trotted back to the plate. He turned and fired his first major league pitch: a strike.


End file.
